KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Genetic genealogy testing has solved another decades-long mystery.
Skeletal remains discovered in Claiborne County 37 years ago were identified last week as Jerry Harrison of Little Rock, Arkansas, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
On August 24, 1986, hunters found the remains along an abandoned trail in the Caney Valley area.
TBI agents, alongside the Claiborne County Sheriff's Office, began investigating the death. Forensic anthropologists determined the remains were those of a white male, likely between the age of 30 and 40. The victim was shot and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the TBI.
The University of Tennessee's Forensic Anthropology Center said the man had been dead for six months to a year prior to the discovery of his remains. Investigators couldn't determine the victim's identity and he was classified as John Doe.
In September 2015, the UT Forensic Anthropology Center submitted a sample of the man's remains to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI). A DNA profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System in hopes that he would eventually be identified, the TBI said.
In December 2022, as part of the Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative, TBI agents submitted a sample of the man’s remains to Othram Inc., a private lab based in Texas, for forensic genetic genealogical DNA testing, according to the TBI.
Scientists provided information about possible relatives connected to the man. A TBI intelligence analyst used that information to locate potential family members in Arkansas. Agents made contact with two family members who confirmed they had a brother they had not heard from in more than four decades.
Agents were able to obtain familial DNA standards for possible siblings, which were submitted to the TBI Crime Lab in Nashville for entry into CODIS, the TBI said.
Harrison, born in 1957, was positively identified as the man. He last contacted his family in 1982 after he began traveling across the country. He was in his twenties when he died, he was according to TBI.
Who killed Harrison remains unknown. TBI special agents are hoping the public can help provide information. If you have information about this homicide, specifically any knowledge about individuals Harrison may have been with before his death, please call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
